1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a imaging apparatus comprising a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus, with at least one transmitting coil for exciting the matter of a body under examination or of a part thereof and at least one coil for receiving the signals transmitted by the body under examination or a part thereof, as well as electronic means for processing said received signals to create an image and which apparatus has further means for supporting an guiding a surgical or therapeutic tool.
2. Description of Related Art
As is known, MRI examinations are often combined with the use of various tools, which may consist of diagnostic assistance instruments or of therapeutic instruments. This may be the case, for instance, of shoulder dedicated MRI apparatuses, wherein contrast agents are often to be injected in the region under examination. The perfusion of said contrast agents shall be as accurate as possible and requires a critical time selection, which may not be easy, especially due to the anatomic peculiarities of the shoulder which, as is known, is a very complex anatomic region, especially when said operations are carried out in a wholly manual manner. In this case, the success of these operations only depends on the skills and expertise of the operator. Any error in the selection of the injection point and/or of the needle orientation, or a poor synchronization with MRI operations may lead to less than optimal images and require a new injection. In particular cases, this may even cause damages to tissues. Similar or even more serious difficulties may be encountered when the MRI apparatus is used in combination with other types of diagnostic and/or therapeutic tools, to be further mentioned hereafter in the description.
Document EP 1090 594 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,812 discloses an MRI apparatus having an RF receiving coil comprising means for supporting a therapeutic tool such as a syringe or a needle.
The supporting means helps in correctly aiming the tool against the zone to be treated while the imaging apparatus helps in viewing the tool and the part where the tool acts for better controlling the position, the orientation and the effect of the tool.
Although the known devices according to the above mentioned documents work, there are some tools and some tissue which depending on the kind of material or tissue and the form or shape of the tool or the structure of the tissue are not well imaged by the MRI apparatus.